The Opening Of The Close
by foreverandalways'7
Summary: Every great story has a great beginning and this is no exception. James and Lily's lives have never gone through so much change. Strong bonds will be tested and new friendships will be formed. In moments of great distraught love will surface and two hearts will beat as one. This is truly the beginning of a remarkable story. CANON to the greatest extent!
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

_Living in the midst of war isn't easy. The fact that you could be killed at any moment just makes you appreciate every second that you are blessed with…_

_We brought you into this world, Harry, into this frigid, senseless world. It has had better times, and there will be bright days ahead but for now, you just have to be strong. I'm sorry that daddy and mummy are leaving you, it breaks my heart that I won't be able to see you grow, to see you off at your first day at Hogwarts, see you opening your gifts at Christmas or sing to you when it's your birthday. But rest assured, darling, daddy and mummy will always be there when you scrape your knee or need our help._

_Harry we will always love you, don't you forget that. I wish I could've stayed with you. Be strong my love, be strong like your father. Be kind and loving with those close to you because they are the ones that matter and the ones that shall always stand by your side. You might face some difficult times, I faced many, and believe me when I tell you, it gets better, you will pull trough. Fight for the ones you care for, fight for the ones you love. Fight for peace and justice, fight for what you believe is right. Cherish the small moments and the amazing ones._

_My son, you will uphold our legacy, you _are _our legacy… Darling it's up to you to carry on our will, our mission. You will do great things for our world, great things. Darling, I know you can do it, after all, you are James and Lily Potter's son. You are the nephew, not by blood, but by a strong bonds, of Uncle Sirius and Uncle Remus, the most talented wizards I've seen and they will help you, because, Harry, they love you too, as well as many others… as you are special._

_He has blasted the door open my love, I should hurry and say good-bye before it's too late. I can't fight back, I have no wand, but I'll do what I can to protect you. I love you so much my angel, don't ever forget that. I'm sorry that I'm crying, I just don't want to say good-bye yet. He's telling me to move away, but don't worry he won't lay a single blood stained finger on you. Mummy's here to protect you._

_Your father told me to run, so I did, but when I saw his lifeless body fall to the floor, there had never been greater ache in my heart. My son, you must know, he was a brave man, the bravest I've ever seen. He died… he died to protect you darling and I will die as well, to protect you. You must know, I don't wish to leave you, I want to stay, stay by your side. I wanted to grow old with your father but now I hope you get the gift that I was deprived of. I will not stand aside love, even if he tells me to move. I shall always protect you until I take my last breath and even beyond that._

_As I took my lasts breaths I saw your face, your perfect face, Harry and I saw daddy._

_James I didn't get to say good-bye, I'm sorry!_

_James_

_Harry_

_My son, my angel, for the sake of your father and I,__LIVE!_

"**Avada Kedavra!"**


	2. Chapter 1

I had to do this, it just came to me and I haven't been able to stop writing ever since. I hope you enjoy reading this story and that you give me any and all the suggestions you'd wish. Just let me know.  
Happy reading!

**Disclaimer**: I don't own anything and I'm immensely thankful to the lovely J. K. Rowling for giving me such a magical childhood and for allowing me to play around with her creation.

R&R

* * *

**Chapter One**

_Sixth Year_  
_1976_

"Sleeping Evans?" James Potter said with a rather smug smile on his face, which faltered as Lily, still slightly drooling on her open book, didn't even budge. James sighed and sat on the chair beside Lily.

"Evans…" James sighed, shaking Lily's shoulder, "You know if Madam Pince sees you drooling all over her precious books she would… well, rather kill you."

Lily jumped as she realized she had fallen asleep, she looked around wanting to thank the person that had woke her up, only to find James Potter sitting beside her with a smirk plastered on his face.

"Potter?" Lily said, slightly faking her surprise "Is it even possible? James Potter in the _library?"_

He rolled his eyes at her and stood up, "I must've lost my way."

Lily stood up as well, gathering her belongings and raised her eyebrow.

"I suppose we are heading for the same place?"

"I don't know, are we?" Lily said as, she too, started walking out of the library.

"I'll walk with you. I'm just telling you so you don't get the wrong idea."

"Smooth Potter."

He rolled his eyes and put his hand in his pockets, deciding to ignore Lily's previous comment, "What are you doing in the library?"

Lily looked at James in disbelief and James quickly added, "I know you're always in the library but-"

"Not always." she interrupted.

"Sure... but what were you doing? Do I need to explain the question, I reckon it's clear." He said as he opened the library door for Lily.

"We have a History of Magic test tomorrow Potter, I wouldn't be surprised if you forgot already."

"Actually," he moved a hand to the back of his neck and a shy smile spread across his face, "I already studied. Remus made me of course."

Lily bit her lip as hard as she could but her efforts were futile and she burst into laughter. Both of them had stopped walking, Lily gripped her aching middle and a few stray tears rolled down her cheeks. James smiled, he liked seeing Lily in such a good mood, of course he would prefer her laughing with him, not at him. Either way, after a short nap and a long day in the library she was the bright, charismatic Lily, who he rarely got to see, but everyone else saw regularly.

"Hush Evans!" he shushed her, trying to sound serious but the massive smile on his face took all the seriousness away.

Lily lifted her eyes to James and when she saw his face, a mixed contortion of seriousness and outright laughing, she burst into another fit of laughter.

"Evans you're scarring the poor students," James whispered making a show of taking a few steps away from her.

Lily tried to straighten up, she wiped the tears from her eyes, and she still had a happy smile on her face, "Sorry. I just imagined you... studying."

James put a hand over his heart, "Ouch Evans."

Lily shook her head and rolled her eyes, her smile never leaving her face.

"So, you're all set for tomorrow?" James asked, placing his hands back in his pockets.

She thought about everything she had to study and everything that she had studied in the library. James noticed how she bit her lip and her eyebrows slightly furrowed as she thought through everything and smiled. Lily brought her green eyes back to his, a worried expression on her face.

"No." she frowned and looked back at her feet.

"Evans you can still study in the common room, it's still early." James added casually.

Lily looked up at him, "Wait, what time is it?"

James looked at his watch, "Err... eight."

Lily's cheeks turned a shade darker, "Oh, I... didn't know. I thought it was really late."

James, not wanting to screw with this incredibly rare occasion, just nodded and smiled.

"Nope, still early."

As they walked to the Gryffindor common room they chatted lightly about their upcoming tests and its various subjects. When they entered the common room James knew this was his chance, they had been talking for a while now. Maybe Lily would say yes now that he was on her good side, he didn't know how long it would last.

"Lily I wanted to-" James started but was interrupted by someone's yell.

"Lily Evans! Where 'ave you been? I've been looking for you everywhere! Did you forget, Lily? We 'ave that dreadful History of Magic test tomorrow and you promised you'd help-"

Marlene McKinnon stopped abruptly a questioning glare crossing her eyes as she looking at who she was sitting with.

Raising her eyebrow she looked at Lily, "You dare not meet with me and… and instead go with… with this lousy excuse of a man?"

Lily smiled as she heard the hint of mock rage in her voice. James smirked at Marlene, inwardly cursing her for appearing at such a moment.

"I was just leaving." He said, nodding at Lily before turning and heading up to the boys dormitories.

"Honestly Lily, what is it that possessed you and made you talk to _him._" She said as dropped her books onto the table with a loud _thud_.

"Oh come off it Marlene." Lily walked over to her best friend, "I was at the library, you should know better. It was pure coincidence that I met Potter there."

"James? In the library? You must be joking!" She exclaimed as she started laughing.

"I know that's what I thought," Lily said smiling at her boisterous friend.

As Marlene's laughing subsided she looked at Lily, "But seriously, you didn't look like you were going to rip his head off or anything of the sort as you came in. How's that even possible, you hate the lad."

"Marlene, Marlene. " Alice said, shaking her head and looking at Marlene as if she was being foolish, "Our dear Lily here doesn't hate anyone, even if that "anyone" asks her out every waking hour."

Both Marlene and Alice Stewart laughed as Lily looked at them crossing her arms over her chest.

"Oh, and may I ask where you where?" Lily said with a knowing look, "Maybe with some bloke by the name of… I don't know… Frank Longbottom?"

Lily looked at her innocently and Alice's mouth dropped open, silencing them both.

"Lily!" Alice said stunned before she lunged forward pinning Lily to the ground, "You'll regret that!"

Marlene was laughing her head off behind them, rolling over the floor grabbing her stomach as she laughed.

"Take it back!" Alice yelled trying to keep her face serious.

"Never!" Lily said as, she too, howled with laughter, "You know it's true!"

"Take it back!" Alice said once again and burst into a fit of laughter alongside her friends.

"Evening ladies." Sirius Black said as he came into the common room followed by the rest of the Marauders, "We heard your screams all the way up to our dorm, we got worried. But everything looks like it's, just some… girl-on-girl action I suppose."

He winked at them and they all glared at him. Before he could react a shoe went flying and smacked him right on the face. Alice and Lily looked stunned until they saw Marlene missing a shoe. Before they could stop it, all three of them burst into laughter, James, Remus, and Peter joining them this time.

"Oh Ha Ha!" Sirius said sarcastically picking up the shoe and showing it to Marlene, "Looks like I own a new shoe." He examined it and started running out of the common room.

Marlene stood up and ran after him yelling, "Black!"

All of their party and a few other occupants in the common room stared after them.

"Black come back here! Give me my bloody shoe back!"

They laughed as they heard Marlene yelling from the end of the corridor.

Everything was well, their sixth year in Hogwarts was going smoothly, Christmas was just a few weeks away. Even though outside of the castle walls there was a war brewing they were all well. But… how long could it last?

...

Charles Potter walked into the room where it had happened, the smell of blood burning his nose. It was a normal house in the middle of a small town, no one in particular lived here, so then why? He swallowed as he saw, for the fifth time this week, a family of muggles dead on the floor. They had tortured them, opened deep wounds in their skin, burning them and Merlin knows what they had done to their insides. By the way the bodies were placed on the floor the father had been protecting his children. Once he fell the eldest tried to fight them proving unsuccessful, and thus fell dead like his father. The smallest two were hugging, those filthy bastards hadn't had mercy, not even for those innocent children.

"Captain Potter, they got away." An auror said as he came into the room, breathing heavily.

"Those bloody culprits! We have to move before they get any further away." He replied, looking at the room once again.

They were mere minutes too late, had they gotten the call earlier they would've caught _his_ followers.

_What were the looking for... or did they do it to prove a point? _Charles Potter thought.

"Please!" wailed a woman from outside the house, "Please! My family!"

"Hannah, I believe you can handle that." Charles said.

"Yes sir! Right away." A young auror replied.

"Meyers, Joseph... clean this up." He looked at two men who couldn't be a few years older than his own son and they nodded.

"Let's go." Charles said as he looked at the rest of his unit.

* * *

Don't walk behind me; I may not lead. Don't walk in front of me; I may not follow. Just walk beside me and be my friend.


	3. Chapter 2

**Sorry for the wait!**

**I hope you enjoy it. Any thoughts and/or comments are very highly appreciated.**

**AN: **** I have done a few changes to the previous chapters so if you'd wish to go back you're welcome to. I suggest you do. If you're new then ignore this message.**

**Happy Reading!**

* * *

**Chapter Two **

History of Magic always thrilled Lily. Anything that regarded learning was, according to her book, amazing. It intrigued her greatly knowing and studying the past of the world she has come to call her own. It was no surprise when Lily Evans was the first to finish her exam, followed shortly by James Potter.

_Curious bloke he was…_ She thought. He couldn't care less about his studies yet he always had brilliant marks. He and his foolish friends always were up to trouble but somehow they all were marvelous students, most, Peter was a bit behind. They were immature and they were silly but after all of her years knowing them Lily had a certain level of respect for them.

They stood up for what they believed in, they protected each other and those who needed to be protected, obviously not minding the cost. They had landed themselves in many detentions and such, but they never seemed to regret their actions. Lily of course did mind, she was more of a pacifist, wanting to solve issues with words, completely opposite to their beliefs as they wanted to solve everything by force.

_Just look at them!_ She huffed. Not even an hour ago they had gotten into a fight, a nasty one for that matter. Slytherins were always the cause of most of their problems, after all there has been a somewhat heated disagreement between Gryffindors and Slytherins for centuries. Nevertheless that is no excuse for what they had done.

Lily, wanting to solve the previous _disagreement _asked the Slytherins to leave the poor girl they had been pestering alone as they changed classes. After a boy shoved her away and she lost her balance, she was sure she had tripped over something, the _great _Marauders came to the rescue, not that she needed their help in the least bit. She could've managed by herself but before she knew it heavy words were being exchanged which led to violence which nearly lead to wands. Professor McGonagall stopped the brawl before it could get any worse. In her approach the crowd that had gathered quickly dispersed leaving only the beat up boys, Lily, and her friends.

The Marauders now had a detention, each, and caused their house to lose 50 points. Lily was furious and hadn't spoken a word to them since. As she was looking at James she saw him turn to her, meeting her eyes he winked with his black eye and smiled with his parted lip. She rolled her eyes and looked back to the front of the class.

_Ridiculous._

…

"Come on Lily flower, you can't stay mad forever." Sirius said as he wrapped his arms around her.

Lily was sitting in the common room reading one of her favorite books. Sirius was now hugging her from behind. She put her book down and looked at the fire in front of her.

"Do you know what I'm thinking?" She whispered.

Sirius raised an eyebrow wondering where she was going with this, "I'm listening."

"I'm thinking that if you don't remove your arms I'll-"

Taking the hint Sirius removed his arms and kissed Lily's cheek.

"Don't be mad Lily, life's too short to stay mad all the time!" He yelled over his shoulder as he walked out of the common room.

She hadn't even bothered to talk to them all day, she wasn't really mad anymore but she just wanted to make them understand what they did was wrong. As a prefect she had to stand for what she believed in, but she was still grateful for what they did, not by how they managed the situation though.

"Well Lily, I reckon it's time for dinner." Came Alice's voice from the bottom of the girl's dormitories stairs.

Standing up she gave a nod, and gathering her belongings walked out of the common room with Alice.

"Lily?" Alice asked as they were walking down the stairs leading to the great hall.

"Hmm?"

"Do you know where the bloody hell Marlene is?" Alice asked genuinely.

"As a matter of fact… I don't." Lily wondered where Marlene could possibly be.

"Well, she'd never miss dinner, she'll come down eventually." Alice shrugged and Lily nodded.

As they walked with the crowd down the stairs Lily caught sight of James and Sirius. They had the unmistakable look of someone who was planning something. They looked at each other and smirked. This isn't going to end well if she didn't stop it before whatever it was happened.

_Oh no… this is bad._

Lily tried to call James but her cry was drowned in screams.

"_Glisseo_" James said and the stairs underneath the mass of student gave way at the same time that blue slimy goo fell over the students causing them all to slide down the remaining floors. They slid down and bumped into each other on the way. They ended up on the main floor and the goo made them keep sliding. Somehow the goo made getting any sort of injury impossible and lightened the fall.

Lily was drenched in the goo and she could see that everyone else was drenched as well. She looked over to Alice who was laughing her head off.

"Unbelievable!" Lily yelled as she tried to stand but slipped and fell on her bum.

As the screams of fear and confusion subsided hysterics took over the students as they understood what had happened. Most were laughing as they understood that they had been part of an infamous marauder prank, others, especially Slytherins, were infuriated and disgusted by this. Lily looked over at the boys and her nostrils flared as she saw them rolling in the goo laughing.

"Oh no." Lily heard Alice say and Lily turned to see what she was looking at.

Marlene was walking, obviously not paying attention, straight towards the slide which used to be stairs. She was looking at the ground, her cheeks were pink and she looked exasperated.

"Marlene!"Lily and Alice yelled at the same time but they were too late.

She looked up and her eyes went wide. She tried to take a few steps back but slipped and fell down the slide on her bottom. Lily and Alice ran towards her but didn't manage to get far before they fell.

"Mar are you alright, mate?" Alice yelled over the noise.

"Splendid, splendid!" Marlene yelled, sarcasm dripping from her words.

The great hall's doors burst open and all the professors came running out with flustered faces. Before they could react they all slipped and fell on their behinds. Everyone stared wide eyed, silence overtook the entire hall as they all watched, until Dumbledore himself started to chuckle.

"There is always room for some fun before dinner." He said with a warm smile breaking the silence.

Whipping his wand slightly everything around them turned to its original form. The goo disappeared and the staircase returned to its previous state.

Looking over to the Marauders he stated, "Let's not have this happen again. Now, dinner is served and I've been told that today's dinner will be delightful."

Everyone got up and looked at Dumbledore's retreating figure as he walked back to the high table. Awkwardly the students walked over to their tables and started eating dinner. Alice took her usual seat next to Frank, even though they weren't dating they both liked each other's company, and Lily sat next to Remus, while Marlene sat in between James and Sirius, like everyone normally did.

Lily bent over the table and whispered, "You guys are incorrigible! If Dumbledore wasn't so off his rocker you would've been expelled!"

"Relax Lily dear, it went all according to plan." Sirius said in a low voice as he leaned in as well.

"Besides they'd have no proof it was us." James said shrugging.

"According to plan? According to plan?!" Remus asked incredulous leaning in towards the group and tried to keep his voice down, "Are you mad? That was bloody insane and disproportionate. The_ plan _was probably a fourth of its actual magnitude, there was a reason why I calculate and gave you the specific-"

"Moony, mate, it went outstandingly great! Even if you are pissed about us not using your _precise calculations." _Peter said as he sat beside James.

"Did you finish?" James asked.

Peter nodded and they all exchanged smirks and knowing glances.

"What are you up to now?" Frank asked.

"No!" Lily said, "No more, I'm bloody serious! You'll get yourselves expelled and Merlin knows what other consequences we'll have to face after you get caught!"

Everyone looked at Lily, wide eyed and Lily suddenly felt self-conscious.

"What?" she asked her cheeks getting darker, "I'm serious."

Sirius smirked, "Lily dear, relax, it's all under control. Right?"

"Absolutely." Peter reassured as he stuffed his mouth with food.

"Sure… under control." Remus murmured.

"Oh stop sulking Moony!" James laughed.

Lily rolled her eyes and looked at Marlene, she had been extremely quiet, as soon as Lily saw her she knew something was wrong.

"Marlene?" Lily tried to be cautious, knowing she was a ticking time bomb, "Is something bothering you?"

Marlene laughed sarcastically, "Yes Lily it's bloody wonderful! Why do you ask? Do I _look_ mad? Because I'm not."

Alice raised her eyebrow at Lily and asked slowly, "Marlene… what happened?"

Marlene looked at her food and said grumpily, "Oh it's nothing, nothing really."

"Okay Marlene... if you say so." Alice said skeptically.

"Okay, fine! If you want to know that badly, McGonagall gave me a bloody detention and the worst part is that I had nothing to do with what happened!"

Alice and Lily exchanged a glance and Lily asked, "What… exactly happened?"

Everyone turned to Marlene and her cheeks got ten shades darker, "Well… er, that guy Ronan, the Ravenclaw, he was a nuisance to the whole class. So when McGonagall put us to work he was fooling around and gave me… _a pig tail._"

Marlene's face somehow managed to get darker as everyone listening to her tried to keep their faces straight and not burst into laughter.

"So the first thing that I did, of course, was give him a pig's tail too and he said something to me and I… just lost it and turned him completely into a pig."

By the time she had finished she was speaking in a whisper, not very common coming from Marlene.

"So you mean to tell us you turned him into a _PIG_!" Alice wondered, her eyes wide.

"Well without doubt he deserved it." Sirius said as he wrapped an arm around Marlene, "We're proud of you!"

All of their party laughed and James patted Marlene fondly, a big smile on his face, "You should've tried not to get caught though."

"Or you should've given her puppy eyes, right Prongs?" Remus winked at James.

"That does get us out of many predicaments." James admitted.

"And it doesn't _only_ work on the female population, Padfoot knows _all_ about that." Peter said smugly and the boys sniggered.

"Of come off it! That only happened once, and if it weren't for me we'd probably be expelled." Sirius said defensively but then his serious face broke into a smirk.

Marlene started to soften up as she understood it wasn't as serious as she thought it was, the Marauders were laughing and reminiscing on some of their adventures and close calls. It turned out she'd had to do detention with the boys and the subject was soon left in the past. Lily smiled as she saw the once exasperated Marlene laugh James did a perfect imitation of Peter's face when he got caught sometime in the past when she felt a tap on her shoulder.

"Lily… may I speak with you… for a second." A Hufflepuff by the name of… of…

_Oh no what was his name?_ Lily thought as she smiled at him and stood up.

" 'ello Clark." Frank said nodding at _Clark Rickett_, a Hufflepuff sixth year. The rest on the table continued with their banter, except for one pair of hazel eyes which followed Lily as she stood.

_Of course! Bad Lily!_

"So Clark, what's the matter?" Lily said with a warm smile.

The tall, muscular beater looked like he was struggling to get a word out and cleared his throat before speaking, "Er… well, Professor Binns wanted me to get aid in History of Magic… because I'm almost failing and nobody would want a Troll in that class, as a matter of fact in any class at all. I did do awful on today's exam. And everyone knows that you get great scores and I do need the help otherwise I wouldn't be allowed to do many things. I wouldn't be able to play quidditch either, which would affect the team greatly because we don't have any other beater who could replace me and we have big games coming up and-"

"Yes." Lily stated holding a hand up to stop him.

"What?" He asked confused.

"I'll help you… that's what you need, correct?"

"Uh ye-yes, yes! Thank you, Lily." He smiled, "When?"

"I'll meet you in the library tomorrow at six." Lily said and he nodded.

"Bye Lily, thank you!"

Lily waved him off, "No problem."

As soon as Lily sat back down Alice wiggled her eyebrows and Lily rolled her eyes. She had only been a good schoolmate and prefect, that's what she had to do, help others. But _others_ weren't as happy as Alice because as she sat James stood.

"We should get going." He said to his fellow Marauders and they stood with him and left the great hall.

"Oooh Lily! You got James jealous again." Alice said shaking her head mockingly.

"I don't reckon he still fancies me." Lily shrugged.

"Of course he does! Are you mad?" Marlene laughed, "He's fancied you since _he first laid eyes on you_. And _I _reckon he's still mad for you Lily."

"Yes." Frank agreed, "He's laid off because he's maturing."

"James? Maturing?" Alice asked raising an eyebrow.

"Well if you'd see him when we hang out or by the way he acts in public, he's changing and I believe it's mainly because of what's happening around his parents, around the whole wizarding world as a matter of fact." Frank said.

"Oh yes, they're aurors and with all of this uprising he's bound to be on edge." Alice said sighing.

"Or maybe he understood you'd never go out with him and he's permanently sulking." Marlene said trying to lighten the dampened mood.

"Oh sod off." Lily shook her head.

…

"We're finally out! Christmas bloody holiday is finally here!" Alice yelled as the three girls made their way to Gryffindor tower.

Marlene laughed as she put her hands on her stomach, "Oh no, and now we'll go get fat with our mothers' cooking, I'll have to get a new uniform because everything I have will not fit by the time I get back."

"That's the beauty of Christmas! The food!" Lily laughed.

But as they saw a Gryffindor second year running towards them with a face contorted in horror they quickened their pace to meet her halfway.

"Lily! Lily, come quick!" She said grabbing Lily by the hand and running to the portrait hole.

"What's going on?" Alice asked as she ran behind them.

"Is someone hurt?" Lily asked.

"No, no. It's just…" but she couldn't continue because they had reached the open portrait hole.

Girl screams seeped out of the hole and then, oddly, Lily heard male laughter.

As she passed through the hole she then asserted the situation. Someone had charmed all the girls' undergarments and now they were floating and flying through the entirety of the common room, every girl was blushing hard trying their best to reach the ones they owned and all the male population had at least one undergarment in their hands. And there was a big sign over the fireplace with the words '_Merry Christmas!_' on it.

"No fucking way." Alice said slowly her jaw dropping.

_But how is this even possible!_ Lily wondered, _someone had to get into the girls' dorms to actually charm them and there is no possible way that…_

Peter's conversation with the boys a few days back in dinner suddenly made sense.

Lily looked over to a group of boys who were laughing and enjoying themselves a tad too much. Her green eyes met with a pair of hazel ones, James then proceeded to smirk and show her something that he was holding, a wine red bra that Lily knew all too well.

"I'll miss you guys." Lily said in a low, menacing tone.

"What are you saying Lily?" Marlene asked completely confused.

"After I kill him I won't be seeing you guys often." Lily took a step forward and James' smirk widened.

"Don't do anything rash, dear." Alice said knowing what she was about to do.

"Tell my parents I love them." Was the last thing Lily said before she took her wand out and ran after the four boys who made her life impossible.

_Matured? James Potter maturing my arse!_

* * *

**I have a question for you guys...**

**_Should I or should I not name the chapters?_**

**I'll try to update as soon as possible! I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it!**

**Best wishes,  
Maria**


	4. Chapter 3

**Here is Chapter Three! I will be posting regularly from now on.**

**Enjoy, let me know what you think so I can improve on my writing!**

**hogwartsharpist, thank you so much!**

**And without further ado, Chapter Three...**

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**Chapter Three:**

Lily looked up at the ceiling. She was one big jumble of sheets, clothes and limbs. It had been four days since her mum and dad had picked her up from the train station. She had exchanged goodbyes with her friends and had promised to write to Marlene and Alice, she had also managed to glare at the Marauders before turning on her heel to meet her Petunia-less parents.

She hadn't managed, however, to turn fast enough before she saw Remus and Peter laugh, Sirius Black wink at her and the detestable James Potter blow a kiss at her. She sighed as she remembered how furious she was at the boys who had mortified her as her undergarments flew through the common room.

Lily turned around and screamed into her pillow, she didn't even know why she wanted to muffle her exasperated yell, she was alone after all.

Mum had said something about the hospital needing nurses there to help out.

"It is accident prone season after all!" She had said as she kissed Lily tenderly on her fiery hair as she made her way out that morning.

Her father stood at the same time as her mother had, kissing Lily on the forehead and muttering, "I'm off to work, but I'll be home as soon as I can to spend time with my Lilykins."

Lily had laughed at this, "Dad, when will you stop calling me that!"

He had smiled lovingly back at her, "_Never_, munchkin."

Petunia had made previous arrangements and had left, before anyone else, to meet her boyfriend/future to be fiancé/future to be husband/walrus.

Lily sighed again as she was brought back to the present. Walrus Dursley was a good for nothing, obnoxious, sad excuse of a man who had no business with her bloody sister. A whale of a man who should better leave her family the fu-

**_SWOOSH_**

Lilly's heart gave a painful thud as she reached for her wand that was laying by her on the bed. She mustered all of her Gryffindor courage and walked quietly towards her door. She had heard it come from downstairs, she walked quietly and slowly towards the stairs. Her heart was beating erratically and it was deafening her, she knew it could only be trouble, she gripped her wand tighter and made her slow, cautious decent.

The Wizarding World was at war and as a muggle-born she was to be caught at the wrong end of a wand, that's why she knew she had to be strong. To protect those who she cared about, her defenseless family who was completely unaware of the danger that was forthcoming. She wouldn't allow anyone to hurt her if it meant that there would be no one left to protect her family, her friends, and all those who couldn't protect themselves.

She reached the landing and noticed that, even if it was an early hour in the morning, the house was dark. The sun had hidden itself behind cold, dark clouds. There was an ominous feeling that loomed in the stillness of the house, her heartbeat thumped against her chest, threatening to rip through her skin.

There was a shuffle in the drawing-room, some muttered, unintelligible voices. She walked through the dark hallway and stopped at the door that lead to the drawing-room.

One, _shuffle shuffle_, two... _footstep footstep_, THREE!

Lily blasted the door and instinctively through a stunning spell at the first person she saw. She heard it hit its mark and a loud thud followed.

"_Stupefy_!" Someone yelled from within the dark room.

Lily shielded herself and threw another stunning spell before they could retaliate. As the words were about to leave the tip of her tongue she felt a curse hit her square on the chest.

"_Expelliarmus_!" A man said and Lily's wand flew into the drawing room to the enemy before she blew back and hit the opposite wall. Lily felt a thunderous crack spread through her back as she connected with the cement wall and whimpered in pain.

She knew this was it, she had no wand and it was two against one, Lily felt proud, at least, because she had managed to stun one of her opposers. She wanted to cry, the pain had centered on all of her rib cage, but she knew if she was going to face death she wasn't going to give them what they wanted. She wasn't going to show the pain and fear she felt, she was going to be strong and face them with the courage that she pretended to have.

There was heavy breathing in front of her and she heard them walk out of the drawing-room and make their way towards her. Lily was trying to get up but she suspected that she had at least two broken ribs, she was heaving but didn't dare to look up, not just yet. That was when she heard it.

The woman gasped, "Oh no!" She said, Lily recognised it as a voice she knew too well.

"Bloody hell!" Said a deep voice, Lily had never been so happy to hear James Potter's voice.

Lily looked up then, at her friends, and they suddenly became blurry with the tears that rolled down her eyes.

_It was just them, _she thought_, Merlin, it was just them._

She let go of the valiant facade she sobbed and flinched as the pain in her ribs increased with ever sob. She thought she was going to be strong, she thought she wouldn't leave without putting up a fight. But here she was, completely useless and defenseless, even though it wasn't an enemy. Her pride failing her and she wailed in relief and pain.

"Oh Lily," Marlene said kneeling beside her, "I'm _so_ sorry, you scared the bugger out of us. Attacking us like that! You even stunned Sirius! It's okay dear, James will fix you up, you know I'm terrible at healing."

Marlene rambled on, trying to make her feel better, Lily was crying harder now, she didn't know why. She was embarrassing herself in front of that prick who she couldn't have been more happy to know it was him and not a Death Eater.

"You bloody..." Lily tried, flinching, "Arse holes!"

Marlene laughed kindly, "I'm happy you're okay, Lils. Now get to it, James, I'm going to go laugh at Sirius."

She stood up and headed to the drawing-room to find a motionless Sirius. James crouched next to Lily, he could smell her soft sweet smell, vanilla and something floral, mixed with the irony smell of blood. She looked up at him with huge, shinning, green orbs.

"I'm so glad you're here." She said in a soft voice. James felt a pang in his heart, she seamed so fragile, so helpless that he couldn't help but think what could have happened if she had actually been alone to deal with a real enemy.

James smiled a little and nodded, wanting to hold her right but he knew it was an action that wouldn't be welcome, she was probably still mad at him after the common room episode. He was taken by surprise by what she said, Lily Evans was actually glad that _he_ was here with her.

"May I?" He asked, Lily was surprised by the tenderness of voice, she merely nodded when he asked to lift up her shirt.

Under different circumstances he would have rejoiced in the opportunity to do this, but he felt remarkably guilty as he was the one that had cause her this pain.

"Lily I can't... I need to move you." He looked around for a place where he could lay her down and have a full view of her injuries, the small hallway made it quite difficult to do so.

"I'll be careful I promise." He reassured her as she looked panicking into his eyes.

Lily knew James was a trustworthy man but that didn't mean he wasn't a complete arsehole. He had grown into a fine man but he still did immature things, he had certainly matured as Frank had said but he was still James Potter, an incorrigible boy. But now, something about the way he looked at her and the way he touched her and even the way he spoke, there was something different. Something that made her nod, something that made her nudge into him once he picked her up, something that made her trust him to take care of her broken bones and trust him like she never did but everyone else always did. She was always mad at him because of something he usually said or did, they were never civil with each other until recently. Her opinion on him had started to change, and even though Lily couldn't even admit it to herself, she honestly liked James.

They walked into the drawing-room. She gasped a little when he set her on the sofa, the slightest movement made her feel an immense pain in her rib cage.

"Sorry." James kept saying as he moved his hands to get the fabric of her shirt out of the way.

"Sorry." He said when he thought Lily winced at the pain he caused as he moved his fingers over the right side of her abdomen. When in reality Lily winced at his touch, the pain forgotten, as his cold fingers ran over her warm skin and she winced again when she thought how much she liked it.

James looked at her and found that she was already looking at him.

"This... might hurt a little." He said as he brought his wand to her right side, hovering over a broken rib. She nodded and heard him whisper a healing charm.

It was hot, excruciatingly hot and then it was cold, freezing cold and then _crack_. Her broken rib cracked into place and she whimpered embarrassingly, she felt the pain pass through her whole body and she felt as she slightly slipped into unconsciousness, only to be brought back by James's eyes.

Worried hazel eyes looked into her green ones. "Sorry." He muttered.

"I thought you said a little." Lily said releasing a shaky laugh. She stopped abruptly when she felt a pain on her left side.

_Shit..._ James thought, _One hell of a curse you threw there._

"Turn around." He said examining her left side as she turned on her side. She gripped his sleeve and her left hand was over her head so it wouldn't be in the way.

_Crap, crap, crap, crap..._ He sighed as he saw to broken ribs on her left side. He knew they were broken, it was unmistakable after all, the bones were poking her skin from within and he hoped she hadn't punctured anything. He couldn't deal with any more guilt.

_Three broken ribs, James, that's the way to Lily's heart._

"Again, this might hurt a little." He said and Lily heard the reluctance in his voice, she knew it was not 'just a little' as he said.

James hovered his wand over the broken ribs and muttered the spell, stronger this time. Again Lily felt the unbearable warmth trickle through her bones, then the freezing sensation and then _CRACK_.

Lily almost ripped James's sleeve clean off but before she could do any damage to his shirt she slipped, once and for all, into unconsciousness.

Sirius laughed behind him, "Well, shit." He said, "Was it too much to bare? She's out cold."

"Shut up, Sirius, I want to see how _you_ deal with all those broken ribs. How many James?" Marlene said as she swatted Sirius's poking hands away from Lily's face, "Stop. Touching. Her."

"Three." James said glumly and both Sirius and Marlene looked at him.

"Aw, come on mate. It was an accident!" Sirius said trying to make him feel better, "To be fair, _she_ attacked _us_."

"Yeah, we didn't even know if this was her house. We couldn't know what to expect." Marlene said patting James's shoulder, "And if someone blasts a door open and starts to bloody shoot hexes at you, that's the reasonable thing to do."

"Blast her against a bloody concrete wall? That's reasonable?" James demanded as he brought his hand to his hair and pulled it frustrated.

"Oh, come off it, Prongs. Lily fucking _stupefy_-ed the shit out of me, and I'm not holding it against her!" Sirius barked laughingly.

"Nothing you didn't deserve, you arse..." Marlene said as she crossed her arms.

"Are you still sore because I slapped your bum?" Sirius smirked.

"Ugh! You're a bloody-" Marlene started but she stopped when she saw Lily move slightly on the sofa.

Her eyes fluttered and then she opened them. She was met with three pairs of eyes staring down at her. She suddenly felt extremely self conscious. Her shirt was up to the edge of her bra, her hand was in James's and there was a throbbing pain on her chest where the curse had directly hit.

"I... er... " Lily sat up, even if her body screamed to lay back down. She released James's hand and tried to stand up, just for her knew to give way and stumble forward, only to be caught in James's arms.

"Easy there, Lils." Marlene said, slightly amused at her friend's close proximity to her cousin, "Soo! Happy Christmas!"

Sirius laughed, "C'mere Mar, I want a Christmas hug just like the one Prongs is giving our Lily flower."

Lily looked at James's arms around her and then up at him, she felt a weird sort of tug in the pit of her stomach. Had his eyes always been so beautiful? There were so many colors in his hazel eyes and she felt her cheeks heat up as she noticed the way he was looking at her.

She was only brought back when Sirius cleared his throat loudly with a smirk on his face, Marlene elbowed him on the ribs and looked pointedly at him.

"Er... " Lily said as James lightened his grip on her and she let go as well. But against her better judgment she kept a hand on his shoulder, just as a precautionary measure, of course.

"Isn't Christmas tomorrow?" James asked, "I could've sworn it was..."

"It is." Lily replied hoarsely, "These two are just daft."

"Oi!" Sirius exclaimed, looked at Marlene with a smirk and he wiggled his eyebrows, "We're not daft, we're rather smart, aren't we McKinnon?"

"Wipe that look off your face," Marlene said rolling her eyes, "And I know it's not Christmas yet, that's why we're here."

Lily narrowed her eyes, "Why are you guys even here! And you didn't even warn me or didn't even send me an owl. Nothing! And then this happens! I just think next time give me a heads u-"

"Lily..." Marlene sighed, "Just listen will you!"

"Yes, you at least owe us that! After all you-"

"Padfoot, hush now..." James said, telling Sirius in three words that he would beat the living shit out of him if he held her responsible.

And as Sirius has been best mates with James for so long he just laughed, knowing James would do that. Lily looked at the exchanged and quirked her eyebrow and set her gaze on Marlene who simply shook her head.

"Moving on!" Marlene said, "So as you know James here is my cousin, unfortunately." She was interrupted by a 'HEY!' from James, "Whatever James... Anyway, Mum had to leave and Dad went with her, some Ministry business bollocks. Dorea and Charlus, you know, James's parents, had something with the Ministry as well, Charlus being the Head of the Auror department and all. Dorea having to leave as she is an auror, too, and she's working together with Charlus. Who, incidentally-"

"Bloody hell, Mar!" Sirius interrupted her rant, "Want she meant to say is that she's staying at the Potter's for the holidays, and as I live there, I will be there too." He added with a wink.

"So, I don't want to be alone with these two dimwits..." Marlene sighed pointing at James and Sirius.

"So, would you do Marlene the favour of staying at the Potter Manor, for her benefit." James finished. He hoped he had masked the fact that he wanted her to stay at his house for his benefit. One quick glance at Marlene and Sirius and he knew he wasn't fooling them but Lily hasn't caught on.

"Oh." Lily looked up at James who found the floor very amusing. Was she being asked to go to the Potter's house, James Potter's house to be exact?

"Oh, Lily! You mustn't say no. You can't do this to your best mate! Please!" Marlene pleaded. As normal, theatrical Marlene, she fell to her knees in front of Lily and begged. Lily could already see her fake tears accumulating in her eyes.

"Marlene, I... I don't know! Stop looking at me like that! You too Sirius! I need to ask my parents and I don't even know what they'd think of me spending the holidays somewhere else."

Marlene raised her eyebrow, "Lily you're miserable here! You've only sent me two owls and I can FEEL your boredom! Your Mum isn't ever here and your Dad, I love the man Lils, but he's a tad off his rocker."

Marlene was right, she was miserable here. She would give anything to leave and spend the holidays with her best friend, and even if she would deny it, she wouldn't mind spending it with Sirius and James too. They would surely have a remarkable time and the fact that there were no adults just closed the deal. But Lily knew that she shouldn't go, not when it was at James Potter's house, the boy who she's sworn to dislike greatly. Her parents will gladly say no and she had only wait until the came home for her to ask. Then no one could do anything because their decision was final.

"Marlene... I honestly don't know. I reckon my parents want me here considering that I spend most of the year at Hogwarts and-"

"LILYKINS!" They all turned towards the sound of Lily's dad opening the entrance door. Suddenly Marlene's eyes lit up, a glint of mischief in them.

"Mr. Evans!" Marlene called sweetly and made her way towards the entrance hall, disappearing behind the archway.

"Oh, Marlene, my dear! What a surprise!" Daniel Evans exclaimed with a laugh.

Lily turned to Sirius, "Clean this up." She said pointing at the chipped door, at the burn marks where the spells hit, and at the toppled furniture.

"What about me?" James said rather fidgety. Who would blame him? Lily's dad had just appeared and they were in her house and she was touching him.

"You'll serve as a distraction until Sirius is finished here." Lily said smugly, she noticed how uncomfortable James became once her father had appeared.

Still feeling shaky she wrapped her arm around James's, she told herself she was just putting a show for her father but honestly she kind of liked it.

"Lily...?" James started as they walked towards the entrance landing. Before he could ask what she was doing they came into Lily's dad's view. He let go a Marlene who had hugged him fondly and quirked an eyebrow up at Lily and James.

"Sir." James said, his Adam's apple bobbing as he extended his unoccupied hand towards him. They shaked hands roughly, "I'm-"

"Dad, this is James Potter. Fellow Gryffindor, Marlene's cousin and a friend of mine." Lily smile politely looking at James, "James, this is Daniel Evans, my dad."

Daniel Evans nodded, letting go of their painful handshake, "Friend, ey?" He said eyeing their interlaced arms.

Marlene and Lily wanted to laugh as James looked terrified, he wouldn't mind Lily holding him like that but considering that a very large, muscular man stood in front of him, he was quiet.

"Ah, you must be Lily's dad!" Sirius said as he joined them. He extended his hand and shook Daniel's roughly, "Sirius Black, sir, Lily's best mate."

"Daniel Evans." Mr. Evans said, surprised that there was another person there, and another male, "Lily, may I have a word with you."

Daniel Evans walked over to the kitchen leaving the four alone. Lily nodded and shifted her weight so she wasn't leaning on James, she walked slowly wondering if she wasn't too lightheaded to walk on her own. Before she could figure it Marlene grabbed her elbow and pulled her to the kitchen.

"Lily, what is going on?" Daniel said as he looked at Marlene and Lily walk in.

"Um..." Lily but her lip, not knowing what to say.

Sensing her nervousness, Marlene spoke up, "You see, Mr. Evans, my parents had a very important business errand to run. They left me with my Aunt and Uncle and I'm staying there over the holidays. Those two, my cousin and his best mate, live there and I'm miserable! So I was wondering..."

Marlene looked down and scuffed her shoe on the kitchen's tile floor, "I was wondering if Lily could spend the holidays there with me and my uncle and aunt."

Lily looked at her father, she knew he was going to say _no_ right away. But when she met his eye and saw that he was actually considering it, Lily started to panic.

"Marlene, this is solely up to Lily and her sister." He said.

"What?" Lily was utterly confused.

"I was going to tell you." He smiled shyly, "The Dursleys have kindly extended an invitation for Christmas dinner with them tomorrow. I know how much you... disagree with them so I am not going to force you to go. Now that this opportunity has come up, I won't be worried about you spending Christmas alone!"

"So she can come?!" Marlene exclaimed, jumping up and down.

"I can?" Lily felt light headed, even worse this time.

"Only if your sister agrees to it. If she does, you have my permission and your mother's as well." Daniel smiled thinking he was doing Lily a favour, he had no idea what he had done. Lily was about to spend the next week and a half at the Potter's and she was beginning to freak out.

"Very well, then!" Marlene exclaimed happily, "We should go rely the news!"

They spun around and walked over to where the two boys had been waiting awkwardly for them.

Before they pushed the door open Daniel called after Lily, "Oh, and Lily dear? It would be great if you warn me, beforehand, if you will have friends over."

"Sorry dad, I honestly had no idea they would show up!" Lily called over her shoulder.

Once they were out of the kitchen, the girls saw the two boys sitting on the polished wooden stairs. Marlene shrieked and clapped her hands.

"The Potter residence has a new member!"

...

"Dorea! Dorea!" Charlus yelled as he held the unmoving body of his wife, "Dorea... please, don't leave me."

He pulled her closer to him, hugging her to his chest, sobs overcoming the full grown man as he held his wife on the ground. Death Eaters had just attacked their campsite, where they had been hiding as they waited for further instructions from the Minister himself. The Head of the Auror Department and his wife had protected everyone, alongside them, were the McKinonns who fought valiantly. Thanks to them there were no casualties and the Death Eaters had fled.

"Charlus..." Came a soft voice from his chest, "I can't breathe, you big oaf!"

Relief flooded Charlus's expression, "Oh, thank Merlin you're alive!"

"Alive? Of course I'm alive, love, you didn't think you could get rid of your old wife that easily, did you?" Dorea said weakly, a trickle of blood running down her brow.

"Oh, thank Merlin, thank Merlin." Charlus repeated as he kissed Dorea all over her face.

"I reckon it's past twelve, eh? Isn't it Christmas?" Dorea whispered, "Is it okay if I wish you a happy Christmas?"

"Of course, love, it's okay. Everything's okay." Charlus planted a loving kiss on his wife's lips.

* * *

**Thank you so much for reading!**

**Couple of things: Yes, James isn't 17 yet but considering that there is so much going on in the Wizarding World, they might just overlook a minor instance in which a wizard uses a healing charm. Padfoot on the other hand is 17, so he is legal and can do as he pleases. **

**Please review, let me know what you think, and thank you again for reading,**

**-foreverandalways'7**


	5. Chapter 4

**Thank you so much for following!**

**I hope you enjoy! R&R**

* * *

**Chapter Four**

Lily found herself staring at her ceiling once again. It was Christmas Day, her family had left early in the morning and were staying at the Dursley's for the next five days. Lily was to stay with Marlene for_ almost two bloody weeks_ at the Potter's and now her heavy trunk sat at the foot of her bead.

Yesterday after her three friends had left, Lily's dad had a talk with her.

"Will you be safe? Will you be able to contact us if anything happens? Are you going to be fine without us for Christmas and the New Year? There's nothing going on between you and one of those boys, right? There will be no funny buisness, correct?"

Lily had sighed deeply and answered accordingly, "Yes, extremely safe. You'll have my owl so you can reach me and Marlene has her owl in case I need anything. I'll be okay only if you promise to have a great time with the Dursleys. No, dad, nothing going on we're all friends. No 'funny business', not in anyone's dreams!"

Petunia, who came home a few hours later, wanted to laugh happily when Lily asked her if she could go to her friend's house instead of Vernon's family's house. She had smiled brightly at the prospect of spending time with her boyfriend's family without her freak sister. Rose Evans came home at night, she had teared up because her sweet daughter was going to be absent during the festivities. Lily had assured her that it was all good and she was going to have fun but Rose Evans had been very sad as she wasn't going to be with her complete family.

"Oh dear, if you wish, I won't go to the Dursley's. I'll stay here with you and it'll be just as delightful!" Rose had said.

One look at Petunia's face and Lily had quickly denied her mother's proposal, "Mother, don't be silly! I reckon Petunia has a wonderful week planned for all of you."

Rose had begrudgingly accepted the fact that her daughter would be at her friend's house and went off to bed. Her father patted her on the shoulder and went after Rose, Petunia had smiled at her and went upstairs to her room. Lily had sent an owl to Marlene and she soon got a letter back that said:

_We'll be there at ten, be ready! We'll Floo in again, so don't attack us again, you'll make Sirius cry again. I used 'again' so many times in that sentence, oh and I used it again! Get it? No? Okay, I'll stop wasting parchment.  
__Anyway, love always,  
__Marlene  
__P.S. Sirius wants me to tell you that he didn't cry, but we all know he did. _

She closed her eyes for a second. She felt rather dizzy and she thought that maybe if she closed her eyes for a second... just a second...

"_Lilyyy_."

"Lily, Lily!"

"Wake-y, wake-y!"

_Make it stop!_ Lily thought as horrible screeching flooded her ears.

She rolled onto her side and was met with something hard and warm. She breathed in the scent of something delicious. Wood, pine, leather, cologne and so many delicious things that made Lily think of one thing. Of one person.

"James..." She mumbled in her sleep.

She rolled over to her other side and was met with another wave of smells. Outside, rain, wet dog, and a stronger cologne. It was a smell she knew but it wasn't as good as the first one. She smiled and when she felt her bed start moving she stiffened.

"Ow, stop." She heard a remarkably familiar voice say after a loud slapping noise.

"_You _stop, you arse!" A different voice said and a _thump_ quickly followed.

Lily suddenly jolt awake, her eyes flying open. It took her eyes a second to adjust to the light and then she saw Sirius smiling at her, lying next to her.

"Wha-?" Lily started as she jumped to her feet on top of the bed. She saw James Potter and Sirius Black looking up at her, lying on _her_ bed. "Wha- what... are you doing?!"

She had started at a low voice but once she finished she was yelling.

"Come on love, come back to bed." Sirius laughed as he opened his arms out, knocking James's glasses off in the motion.

"Oi!" James said as he rolled off of the bed and blindly looked for his glasses on the floor.

"It's just you and me now, Lily." He grinned.

"Ugh! Shove it, Sirius!" She said stepping on his leg. "Now... What. Are. You. Doing. Here."

Before Lily could have a chance to react Sirius grabbed her leg and pulled her down, her back hitting his chest painfully.

"Hurry, Prongs! I've got her!" Sirius laughed loudly into her ear.

"If I could just find my bloody glasses!"

"Sirius! Let. Go." Lily said struggling.

"AHA!" James yelled as he put his glasses back on and jumped on the bed. "I'm sorry Evans, but this is your punishment for not being ready."

He started tickling Lily and, as she was possibly the most ticklish person on the planet, she burst out laughing. She tried to squirm in Sirius's iron grip with no avail, the sound of her laughter filled the quiet house and soon was joined by two deep laughs from the boys.

"If- if you... don't stop!" Lily said in between laughs, "Potter! B- Black! Stop!"

Tears were starting to roll down her face from her closed eyes and her laughter only got louder as James continued. Lily managed to kick Sirius in the crotch with her heel and his grip loosened but James kept tickling.

"What 'e bloody 'ell is goin' on 'ere?" Marlene's muffled voice came from the doorway, she held a large marmalade sandwich between her teeth.

"Mar- Marlene!" Lily yelled, "Make. Them. Stop!"

"Boys, what part of wait until she wakes up didn't you understand?" Marlene grumbled, she held the sandwich between her hands and inched to closer to her mouth.

"We did wait!" James said as he rolled off of Lily and Sirius.

"We actually fell asleep with her!" Sirius said in a strained voice. "Lily dear, I can't... breathe ... Would you mind?"

Lily quickly rolled off of Sirius and ran over to where Marlene was now sitting on her desk.

"Merlin, my ba-" Sirius started as he cupped his manly attributes but was silenced by a pillow being throw at him by James.

"If this is what I have to look forward to, I am not going." Lily crossed her arms. Her beautiful pale skin now had a rosy tint to it, her fierce red hair resembled a bird's nest.

"You should have been ready." Marlene shrugged as she licked her fingers.

"Should have been, Evans." James said matter-of-factly whilst nodding.

Lily found a book on her desk and threw it at James. He looked up just in time to get hit right in the middle of the forehead.

"Remarkable aim, Lily flower, remarkable." Sirius laughed.

"Stop calling me that!" Lily snapped, "Are we leaving?"

"I reckon you said you didn't want to go." James smirked, rubbing his forehead.

"Don't test me, Potter." Lily glared at him for a second, then turned on her heel and excited the room.

"You bloody idiots..." Marlene sighed.

"What?" The two boys asked raising their eyebrows in unison. If it weren't for the obvious aspects of their appearance, you'd think they were actually siblings because of their personalities.

"It's enough that Lily has to deal with you at school, now I made her deal with you during the holidays. Be on your best behaviour, understand?"

"What are you talking about?" Sirius laughed, "We're brilliant!"

"We're perfect." James agreed.

"We're beautiful."

"We're ravishing"

"We're delici-"

"Stop!" Marlene held up her hands, "Bloody hell, would you listen to yourselves! All I'm saying is that you should be on your best behaviour."

She stood up and turned on her heel to walk out of the room, heading downstairs.

"What's a Marauder's best behaviour?" James asked innocently and then they both started laughing.

Once they had reached the first floor landing they made way towards the drawing room, where they would be leaving via Floo Network.

"Took you long enough." Lily stood up and crossed her arms.

"Aw, flower, don't be mad. We were merely doing what we do best!" Sirius said.

"And what would that be?" Lily raised her eyebrow.

"Make the world a better place and fill it with laughter, of course!" James said dreamily.

Lily snorted, "More like bring misery upon the world and wreak havoc."

The two boys gasped and clutched their hearts.

"Words hurt, pretty Lily." Sirius sniffed.

"I'm now a broken man, Evans." James fell on the rug and Sirius fell on top of him.

Marlene laughed at the display and Lily tried to hold in her laughter as best as she could, not wanting to give them the pleasure of being right. James opened an eye and smiled when he saw the two ladies smiling.

"Merlin, Padfoot! You need to lay off the pie, mate." James tried to shove Sirius's unmoving body away from him, but Sirius was making himself be dead weight. So James hit him.

"Blimey, Prongs, no need to hit me!" Sirius frowned as he rubbed his arms.

"Shall we go?" Marlene offered Lily an arm and they gladly twined their arms together. Sirius enlarged the fireplace, enough to fit two people and lit up it. Marlene threw some Floo powder into it making the flames turn into a mesmerising emerald green.

Lily and Marlene stepped into the fireplace and Marlene said clearly, "Potter Manor."

There was a strong tug, expanding Lily's body uncomfortably. She spun so quickly, flashing images of different fireplaces in houses all over the magical world rushed before her eyes and then suddenly she was thrust forward. Her arm was ripped apart from Marlene's and she rolled on the floor.

There was a flash of green and the boys had appeared laughing behind Marlene, they suddenly stopped as they saw Lily sprawled on the floor looking at them upside down.

"Enjoying the floor there, Evans?" James asked trying to hide his smile.

"Leave her alone, James. It's totally justifiable! Remember the first time _you_ traveled through the Floo Network?" Marlene started laughing, " Aunt Dorea couldn't find you for hours, she th-"

"Stop, it's not funny." James frowned, "It is probably one of the worst memories of my childhood."

"But what about that time with Moony, when we went-"

"Padfoot, don't talk about that." James's eyes were wide.

Marlene rolled her eyes and turned to Lily, "Well? Aren't you going to get up?"

Lily rolled onto her stomach and smiled, "Yes... er, I was just dizzy."

"Get up now, we need to get ready!" Marlene clapped and then extended a hand to help Lily up.

"Right... I just need to ge-" Lily stopped looked around the boys' feet and sighed, "My trunk. It's back home."

"Stop looking at us like that! You didn't tell us to bring it, now did you?" Sirius raised his hands in surrender as Lily looked at him with narrowed eyes.

"Well, it was implied!" Lily stomped her foot childishly.

"We'll go get it later, Evans, but we should go eat first." James started walking out of the room, Sirius following.

"I am certainly famished!" Marlene said as she motioned Lily to follow.

Only then did Lily notice the room. It had a high golden plaster ceiling with intricate designs and a sparkling diamond chandelier hanging from the centre of the room. The furniture seemed to belong to the previous century but it still seemed new; the beige cushions of the sofas were bordered by dark, rich wood. There were a couple of elegant wooden tables pushed against the walls that held crystal bottles with alcohol inside, some tables had moving pictures, some had rare looking artifacts with foreign scripture on them.

Lily gasped as she walked through one of the polished wooden double doors. There was a beautiful arched hallway, she looked to her left where the hallway continued and there were more polished wooden double doors leading to extravagant rooms like the one she had just excited. The wooden floor had a crimson and gold rug along the seemingly endless length of the hallway. The walls were decorated with still and moving paintings of what could only be members the Potter family, considering how much they resembled each other.

"Lily?" Marlene called from her right where the hallway ended and there was a big open space. "You're killing me! The elves have a wonderful Christmas lunch prepared and you're _taking your time!_ Don't be so evil!"

Lily released a shaky laugh, "Coming. If I don't get lost that is."

Marlene laughed, "Ah yes, the Potter Manor. It's outrageously big if you ask me but it's been in their family for Merlin knows how long."

Lily walked into the entrance hall where she was met with another grand part of the house. There was the entrance door and about ten well made steps directly in front was the grand staircase that disappeared behind a wall as it turned. The ceiling was probably the house's full height and a massive chandelier hung from it.

"It's something alright." Lily said as she caught up to Marlene and started walking towards a short hallway past the stairs and door.

"Dorea and Charlus always says this house is too big for them alone so they're having balls and parties all the time. There's usually a great Christmas ball but due to the circumstances..." Marlene trailed off, "We hope they'll make it back by New Years, it somehow always beats the Midsummer ball and let me tell you. The Midsummer ball is remarkable."

They reached the hallway that only held two white doors, a small one that led to a bathroom and a larger one on the opposite wall that led to the kitchen. The bright sunlight flooded through the large window at the end of the hall. Lily could see a great patch of snow covered grass and beyond that a forest.

Marlene pushed the larger door open to reveal a kitchen, they walked through it and passed through another swinging door at the other end of the lovely, normal-looking kitchen.

"Midsummer ball?" Lily wondered.

"Another crazy excuse for Mum to throw one of her ridiculous parties." James answered with a massive turkey leg in his mouth.

They entered a room with a long table in it, there were possibly ten chairs on each side and a chair at each end at the heads of the table.

_Who would invite twenty two people to dine at once?_ Lily wondered.

It almost resembled the great hall except with only one long table filled with flood. On one side there was a wall completely made of glass, with large heavy open drapes; to the other there was row after row of expensive plates and cutlery in fancy vitrines.

The four of them only occupied one end of the table, Lily and Marlene sitting next to each other and opposite them James and Sirius. They were pleasantly chatting about nonsense and their plates were full and their hearts were content. Even if Lily wasn't with her family, even if James's parents were out in the battlefield with Marlene's, even if Sirius's whole family was on the evil side, their _four hearts were content._

"I'm sorry about this. I wanted to eat in the normal sized table in the kitchen but Mum left specific orders to serve all Christmas meals in this stupid dining room." James grumbled to the three of them.

"Dorea will be Dorea." Marlene sighed.

"It's okay Prongs, I can't get to sit on the head of the table if we're in that circle table in there." Sirius grinned.

"You're not even..." James stopped as Sirius grabbed his own plate and sat at the head of the table.

"Now I am." He laughed loudly. "Hear, hear, my guests." He stood up and raised his chalice high, "Thank you for coming, I would like to wish you a very happy and safe Christmas and a very enjoyable Christmas party with no authorities and loads of booze!"

They all cheered and downed the contents of their chalices, of course they were served pumpkin juice. The stronger stuff would be for later.

...

One hour later, Lily found herself with James in the room where she had first arrived to his house. He held what seemed to be a magical instrument that resembled a muggle lighter. He clicked it and suddenly the fire was ablaze in the fireplace.

"Shall we go then?" James asked Lily as he swatted his pants' knees, getting the dust off.

"You don't have to come," Lily pursed her lips, "I'll be fine on my own."

"Oh I know you'll be fine." James smirked, "It never hurt to be there just in case though."

"Just in case of what?" Lily didn't want to get mad at him. He was being a James Potter she had never once seen, or she had made herself not see. He was just too... too perfect, and Lily felt unease when it came to him. If the person that is standing before her really was James Potter, then it was obvious that she would do something as remarkably stupid as actually _fall_ for him. And that terrified her.

He walked over to her, grabbed her elbow tightly and pressed his body against hers, "I'm going, whether you like it or not."

Lily's breath hitched at their proximity. What was it with him? Why did he care so much? She wondered what it was that made James feel the /need/ to protect her.

_Just the same thing that drives you to protect everyone you care for, your family, your friends, _him_._

Lily had always _disagreed_ with James Potter and his ways. She had always gotten into loud arguments with him when he stepped out of line, which was often through the years. But recently, excluding the common room incident a few days ago, he had really changed. He had been more quiet, he had been more concentrated in his studies, she often caught him staring out the window for hours sometimes. Lily knew it had to do with all the changes in the world, his parents and himself being in constant peril.

_Scratch that, not himself, he's too selfless to care about himself. He's concerned about his parents and his friends._ Lily sighed.

She looked him dead in the eye, trying to find some sort of glint of humour or something that would mean that he wasn't serious about protecting. She couldn't find anything but resolve and courage and every trait that made him a Gryffindor.

"Fine." She looked away and pulled her arm away from his grasp. "Let's go then."

Once the flames turned green, they stepped in together, James offered her his arm and she stared at it with her eyebrow raised.

She sighed and wrapped her arm around his tightly, scared that she would topple over as she did the first time with Marlene. It was just a precautionary measure.

"Want to do the honour?" James asked holding up a small pouch halfway filled with Floo powder.

"I don't know how to!" Lily's eyes widened.

"Just visualise it and say it loud and clear." James smirked.

Sighing, Lily grabbed enough powder for the both of them, she inhaled deeply and swallowed a lot of ash and finally said, "E- Evans H- House."

They felt the uncomfortable tug as if they were being sucked down a huge pipe and as if they were being stretched. The sound was deafening and Lily struggled to keep a hold of James. All too soon it all stopped and they flew out of the fireplace into a house Lily didn't recognise. James gripped Lily tightly as she tripped I've her own feet and kept her upright.

"Was this how your house looked like? I could have sworn..." James stopped as he looked at Lily.

Panic in her eyes she looked back at James, "This isn't my house! Quick let's get out before someone sees us."

She started walking back towards the fireplace.

"I only have enough Floo powder for one more trip. We won't be able to get back if we use it now." James sighed.

"What?" Lily spun so fast on her heel she almost fell, "You're joking!"

"Don't look at me like that!" He raised his hands in surrender, "You messed up."

"I- I messed up?" Lily's nose was starting to flare, "It was your brilliant idea to let _me_ try!"

"We're not going to resolve anything if we keep at this, let's leave before anyone sees us and we'll see where exactly we are." He said as he turned to look for the door.

Lily didn't move, she opened her mouth and then closed it again. _This_ is what she had noticed that James Potter did now. He'd come up with way to fix things, instead of argue about them. Normally they'd both want to prove they're right but today he wanted to _fix_ her mistake.

"Wait up." She mumbled as she dragged her feet after James.

It turned out that Lily had Floo-ed them a couple of streets from her house. They pulled their coats tighter as the cold air hit them, the snow from the last snowfall covered everything like a soft white blanket. They walked through the busy sidewalk, where people were singing and skipping. They smiled at Lily and James as they walked by.

"How could we possibly have ended up in that house?" Lily said as she shivered.

James unwrapped his scarf and put it on her, "Muggle houses aren't connected to the Floo network."

"But-"

"There are some exceptions. For example, your house. Marlene said she made some arrangements to add your house to the Network when she visited you last summer."

"So they're probably related to someone magic, the people from the house we ended up in." Lily wrapped the scarf around her neck, she was glad it was cold because James wouldn't notice her blush on her already pink cheeks.

As they got closer to her house there were fewer and fewer people, when finally it was ominously quiet. Lily walked to the side of the house, through walls of leafless bushes covered in snow and headed to the backdoor that lead to the kitchen. She sighed when it wasn't open and started looking for the key on top of the door frame on her tiptoes.

Finding it she inserted it into the keyhole and walked in, James following behind her.

"Ja-" She suddenly stopped when she heard a creaking sound upstairs.

They both pulled out their wands. Not knowing what else to do, they waited.

"Did you hear that?"

Their hearts stopped and adrenaline started pumping through their veins. Someone was in there and by the looks of it it there was more than one. It sounded like a young man, around his twenties.

James pulled Lily behind him quietly, their wands pointed at the swinging door that would soon reveal the intruder.

"Zaff! Where do you think you're going?" A deeper, raspier voice scolded, "I already checked in there twice."

"But-"

"Don't doubt me child!" A loud slap followed, "Let's go. There's no one to kill here." There was a horrible laugh, " The Dark Lord's informer must have been wrong, there's no mudbloods here, we need to move on to the next location."

"Yessir." And with that there were two loud _pops_ and they were gone.

Lily stood frozen behind James, who was just as still, neither of them lowering their shaking wands. They don't know how much time passed, a minute, an hour. When Lily finally unfroze she took a few steps back, her back hit the wall and she slid down.

James turned around and kneeled beside her, "We-" he gulped, "We need to get out of here before they decide to come back and check again."

"What if m- my parents had been here." Her wide green eyes looked into his hazel ones, "What if I had actually been here?"

James shook his head, "But you weren't. Let's go get your things and leave. Quickly."

He held out a hand, she nodded grabbing it and pulling herself up.

"I need to stay." Lily's faint voice said as she stopped moving, "What if they come back when my parents are here? They need someone to protect them."

James grabbed her hand again and pulled her forward against her will up the stairs. She suddenly jerked her hand free and stopped.

"James!" She yelled, "I can't go!"

He turned around and put his big, trembling palms on either side of her face, "Lily listen." He whispered urgently, "There were two Death Eaters in the house, Merlin only knows if they'll come back. Maybe three or four of them next time. We _need_ to leave. Your parents aren't here, they're safe and as long as we stay here we're not."

"But when they come back!" Lily argued the fear creeping through her body leaving goosebumps in its path.

"My parents should be back by then, they'll figure it out. Somehow, someway they'll make it okay. Now please Lily, lets get your things and get the hell out of here!" He was still whispering and the fact that he was made Lily even more nervous.

"Okay, okay."

He let go of her and she ran to her room, wand still in her had. She walked through the open door and found her trunk. James's strong arms met the trunk before hers did and carried it downstairs, Lily followed quickly behind him.

They entered the drawing room, James sat the trunk beside the fireplace and pulled out the thing that resembled a lighter. His trembling hands fumbled with it until finally on the third try he manage to make a blazing fire. Lily threw some powder into it and it became emerald green.

Taking no time Lily stepped into the fireplace, James grabbed her hand and with his free hand he held the trunk.

"Don't screw up this time." James released a shaky laugh.

She grabbed the powder, imagined James's house and yelled, "Potter Manor!"

They felt the tugging and finally their feet met the cold stone of a fireplace.

"Bloody hell!" Lily yelled as she almost started crying in frustration.

"What?" James asked, setting the trunk beside a cushioned chair.

Lily looked around, there were tall walls clad in bookshelves filled with books, a table in the middle with chairs, and sofas around the fireplace.

"I messed up again." She whispered.

"What?" James started but then realization dawned on him, "No, no you didn't. This is jut the library. There's more than one fireplace in this house you know."

Lily was about to reply when the wooden doors burst open.

"Where the hell have you been?!" Marlene yelled, Sirius trailing behind her with a worried expression.

Lily moved towards her and slammed into Marlene in a fierce embrace and let her pride fail her once again. Tears started rolling down her eyes and silent sobs filled the now silent room.

Knowing Lily wasn't ready to talk, Marlene just cooed, "Shh... It's okay love, it's okay. You're alright, everything's okay.

...

There was a knock on the door and Lily turned around.

"Yes?" She called from in front of the mirror where she was looking at her flowing champaign dress. It was sparkly around the strapless chest area and it flowed loosely to the ground below her chest in the same colour without the sparkles.

"May I?" She heard James deep voice inquire from behind the door.

"Yes." She whispered.

He opened the door, wearing black pants and a white button down shirt. He stood there for a second before walking over to her bed and sitting down on the edge. His eyes never leaving her beautiful, delicate frame.

"How are you doing?" He asked making eye contact through the mirror.

Lily turned around and met his real eyes, walking slowly towards him. He swallowed wondering if it was an angel that stood before him and stiffened once Lily wrapped her arms around him.

"Lily?" He wondered what this was about. He could smell her beautifully curled hair, like coconut and vanilla.

"Thank you." She whispered as she felt him wrap his strong arms around her and for some reason she finally felt safe, in his arms. "I was so stupid before, thanks for coming with me. I don't know what I would have done without you-"

"Don't mention it." He said simply hugging her tighter.

He felt her nod in the crook of his neck and felt silent tears wet the collar of his shirt.

"Hey..." He said as he pulled away, "I bet Marlene worked hard on that makeup, she'll go bonkers if she sees you've messed it up."

Lily laughed and wiped the tears away, "We should go, they're waiting for the man of the hour."

"I don't know, beside you I doubt anyone will be paying any attention to me." He smiled.

Lily pushed at his shoulder playfully, "Oh, stop."

James caught her hand in his and stood up, "Let's go."

"Let's." She agreed.

They walked down hand in hand, James enjoyed the close proximity they had developed over the last few days. He didn't know what changed maybe it was him, or maybe it was her. He finally decided that everything had changed and inevitably they had changed too.

Sirius, Marlene, and him had invited just a couple of people to spend the evening with. Remus, Alice, Frank, the Prewett twins, Edgar Bones, Emmeline Vance, and a few other school mate Lily didn't know the names of.

"Where's Peter?" Lily wondered as they walked in hand in hand.

"His mum takes him to France for the holidays," James shrugged and walked over to Sirius, who wore black pants and a midnight blue shirt.

They greeted everyone as they made their way to Sirius and Marlene at the back of the ballroom. They got weird looks once the people laid eyes on their joined hands, that only gave James a reason to hold on tighter.

"Glad you two could make it." Sirius clapped a hand on James's shoulder, "We've only been waiting for the guest of honour for an hour now."

"I'm not the guest of honour." James shook his head laughing.

"You're not," Sirius turned to Lily, "But our little flower is."

"You look beautiful Lily!" Marlene gushed, "You are very welcome!"

Lily looked at Marlene wearing a wine coloured, long dress, very fitted on her curves making her look great. Her blonde hair was up, with silver pins holding her hair in place.

"I don't know what you are talking about, you look much better than I could possible look."

Sirius raised his wand and pointed it at the instruments at the stage at the end of the grand ballroom, which had a couple of tables with chairs, a dance floor and a long table full of drinks.

The instruments started to play on their own accord and Sirius offered his hand to Lily, "Shall we?"

She smiled, "Only because it's Christmas, Black."

She looked at James and smiled, she let go of his hand and took Sirius's.

They walked off to the centre of the dance floor, soon joined by a few more couples.

"What's the deal with you two?" Marlene asks James as they looked at Lily laugh when Sirius twirled her.

James smiled, "Who's deal?"

"Lily and yours, don't be daft!" Marlene sighed.

"There isn't anything going on," His smile saddened.

"Don't give me that rubbish!" Marlene exclaimed.

"What do you want me to tell you? That I've fancied her for so long and she's finally returning something? That I don't want to make too much of that something because I know I'll be disappointed? That I'm here, pretending that I'm not going mad because I want to know what it is that's going on between us? If there is anything going on at all."

Marlene smiled and patted his shoulder, "I know Lily, she's like my sister. She _is _my sister and I know there's something going on. I haven't talked to her about it, but honestly I think you might have a chance."

James's eyes brightened, "You do?"

Marlene nodded, "But it's completely up to you not to mess it up."

"Of course, of course." He nodded seriously.

A few drinks later, rather a lot of drinks later, the group of about twenty people were dancing crazily to the upbeat music Sirius had magicked the instruments to play.

"This is-" Fabian Prewett started.

"Ridiculously amazing!" Gideon Prewett finished as the both laughed.

"One of your best parties I might add, Pads." Remus tried to say seriously but started laughing uncontrollably.

"All my parties are the best, specially when I take on the responsibility of doing everything." Sirius laughed, "Of course, our lovely Marlene here did help a lot." He added when Marlene glared at him.

"More like all of it!" She yelled over the music.

"Merlin! Will you two just go and snog already?" Lily laughed as she said that to Alice and Frank. Both of whom had been doing things unconsciously. Like Alice alway looking at Frank's lips when he talked or Frank following her around everywhere. They were always touching, either when they were sitting and their legs touched, or when the stood and their arms touched.

"Lily!" Marlene gasped, "We all know they should snog after all these years of awkward sexual tension between them but you shouldn't put them on the spot like that."

Lily laughed harder, "You did such a great job at not putting them on the spot!"

"Stop it you two!" Alice looked mortified, her cheeks ablaze, "Stop laughing. It's. Not. Funny." She punched them each on their bare shoulders.

Frank wanted to smile at Alice's beautiful blush but he felt just as mortified, "It's okay, let's just go get some air."

Alice willingly followed, exciting the ballroom.

"Some air!" Sirius laughed.

"What a lame excuse!" Marlene joined.

"They should have just said-" Gideon started.

"They were going to go snog and just get it over with!" Fabian finished for him, their boisterous laugh drowning the music.

Lily stopped laughing and looked around, a pair of bespectacled hazel eyes were missing from the group and Lily worried. How long had it been since she had seen James? They'd danced a few times a few hours ago, he'd brought her drinks after that.

Somewhere in her hazy thoughts she remembered him saying he had to go change his shirt, something about Sirius spilling butterbeer all over it. She looked around once again and bit her lip, she thought it was a good idea to go and find him.

"Mar, I'll be right back." She said in Marlene's ear.

"Sure, love!" Marlene yelled back. When she was far enough she whispered in Sirius's ear, "Figure she finally found out James wasn't here?"

"If her 'subtle' looks around didn't tell you anything, her leaving must have surely meant she finally did." Sirius grabbed her waist, "Dance with me!"

Lily made her way to the doors and pushed open, revealing the hall. She closed the large door behind her and wondered where he might be. Lily walked to the end of the hallway only to find Alice and Frank snogging reverently again the front door. She quickly ran to the stairs hopping the didn't see her and ran up the stairs, trying to make no sound.

She reached the second floor landing and looked around. Her room was the second door to the right, Marlene's room was the third room to the right. She had seen Sirius come out of the first room to the left and the first door to the right was a bathroom.

"This house is too big." Lily muttered as she looked at the doors that she had no idea where they lead. There was one at the end of the hall that could only be James's parent's room. Then there was three more doors after Sirius's and one more after Marlene.

"Eeny, meeny, miny, moe." She started, "Catch a Potter by his toe, if he hollers let him go. Eeny, meeny, miny, moe."

She stopped at the last on one the right, she walked over to it and opened it quietly. It creaked as she opened it and it revealed a dark room with a spiral staircase that led up.

_Well this is obviously not his room,_ Lily sighed and closed it again.

She opened the door to its left and found a completely empty room. She sighed deeply and tried one more time with the door beside Sirius's.

_Knock, knock._

"Yes?" She cursed her heart when it jumped a little when she heard his voice.

"Yes, er..." Lily didn't know what to say. She hasn't planned much further after finding his room.

"Lily? Come in." She heard him say and she opened the door and quickly stepped in.

A shirtless James Potter sat on his windowsill holding a letter in his hands.

"Oh, I'm sorry!" Lily said blushing even more as she saw his state of undress.

"No it's okay. I'm sorry, come in." He said standing up and rummaging through his dresser.

Lily walked in to his room, it was just as enormous as hers, his large four poster bed had crimson sheets, vaguely resembling the ones at Gryffindor. He had a desk filled with parchment, quills, and books sprawled on top of it and his dirty button down slung over the chair. His messy, overflowing bedside table had a snitch on top of the parchment that lay on the table, beside it a moving picture frame of him, Sirius, Remus, and Peter laughing as something exploded in the background.

He sat back down on the windowsill looking at Lily intently as she surveyed his room. Never in a million years would he have dreamed of having Lily in his room. He would have organised it a bit if he had known she would pop by.

"Is everything alright?" She asked him.

"Er... I suppose, why?" He wondered as she met his stare.

"You were there and the next thing I know we're all laughing and you are nowhere to be found." She smiled kindly.

"I thought I mentioned having to change." He pointed his thumb to the chair.

"I reckon changing doesn't take half an hour." Lily laughed.

He smiled sadly, "It does when you receive a letter from your parents."

She suddenly stopped laughing and stood up, "I- I'm sorry. I didn't mean to pry, I can leave if... if you want."

"No!" James cleared his throat, " I mean, no. You're not prying, not at all. And I wouldn't mind if you stayed, for a bit."

She walked over to him and placed a hand on his shoulder, "Everything's alright?"

James nodded, "As alright as it can be when you're out fighting."

The effects of the alcohol she had ingested were fading. She sat beside him and held his hand, completely in control of her actions. James was always there for her and she knew he was always there for everyone else.

_Maybe, _she thought_, maybe I can be here for him. Maybe I can be the one making _him_ feel better._

He looked at her and she looked back at him, she wondered if he had been crying. In the faint candlelight she saw his red rimmed, puffy eyes.

"Marlene once told me your parents are the bravest people she's ever met." She started, "I always heard you talk about them to your friends and I pretended not to be interested. I was though, very much so. Marlene would tell me these stories about how they fought whole armies of dark creatures, just the two of them, and they'd win. Or how your mum and her's would go on adventures as children and your mum would always be the brave one. Or the time when they fought a dragon and the only injury your Dad ended up with was a missing toe because he accidentally dropped a sword on his foot!

"I've always been intrigued by them, I've always admired them and I've never met them or even seen them." She felt her cheeks burning as she spilled the truth but kept going once she saw he was genuinely smiling, "So when I see you worrying about them I want to tell you to stop being ridiculous. They're Charlus and Dorea Potter and you should know better than anyone else that they will be alright."

James looked at her wondering how long it could have been since Lily had felt this way! He would have jumped on the opportunity to present them to her.

Without any words he wrapped his arms around her. She was right, he didn't have to worry. They were his parents, he knew they were the strongest wizard and witch he had ever known. They were doing good by the looks of the letter, he had to have faith that they'd make it out okay.

"You're right I need to stop worrying so much." He whispered in her ear.

She snakes her arms around him and felt safe in his arms once again. She liked being the one giving comfort instead of the one receiving it. It would be better if she didn't have to give comfort at all, but with the dark days surrounding them you were bound to receive or give comfort to those you care about.

"Do you want to go back?" He whispered.

"No," she sighed, "But we have to."

James pulled away and pouted, "Let's go then."

He stood up and headed towards the door.

"Potter wait!" She stood up with him, "You can't go like that!"

She motioned towards his old, ragy t-shirt, didn't go well with his dress pants and shoes.

"Evans, I can wear what I want." He smirked "Its my house after all."

"But it's Christmas and if I have to wear this hideous dress then you have to dress up too." Lily countered.

"Actually, Christmas ended at least two hours ago." He said as he made his way towards his wardrobe. He picked out a grey button down and showed it to Lily, "Do you agree?"

She pursed her lips.

_You'd look better naked__._

"Yes." She turned around and he started to lift his t-shirt up, she caught a glimpse of his tones abdomen. Why was she thinking about that? Why is Merlin's name would she think that?

_It's true though,_ her eyes widened._ Stop thinking like that! You two just started to get along, it's morally incorrect to think like that, Lily!_

"Lily, are you listening?" James asked.

She turned around, her cheeks burning, "Y- Yes?"

He finished buttoning his shirt and smiled, her heart tugging slightly, "So you do want to eat slugs?"

Lily bit her lip, she'd been caught not listening, "Er... what was the question again?"

James laughed, "I asked if you were ready."

"Oh! Yes, are you?"

He nodded and the walked out of the room. When they reached the stairs James stopped. He grabbed her hand and he inched closer.

"Ja- James?" She stuttered.

"That dress is not hideous." He said, his lips were so close to her and she was tempted to close the distance.

"I-"

"Did I mention how beautiful you look?" He got even closer.

She didn't know what to do, she knew what he was going to do but she wasn't sure if it was right. She certainly wanted to, there was no doubt about that, but with everything going on. His parents, the Death Eaters at her house today, everyone being in constant peril all the time. She wondered if it was okay to have a moment of happiness.

He leaned in and his soft lips kissed her cheek, testing his limit. He kissed her jawline, one more kiss and he'd be kissing the girl he had always dreamed of kissing. He didn't want to do it because she was beautiful, even if she was, or because he'd fancied her for so long, even if he did, but because she had showed him a part of her he'd never known. Because she showed him what it was like to be strong, what it was like to be selfless and caring, because she cared about her friends and because she'd made him laugh and see the light even when he was about to break.

"Lily..." He breathed.

"James..." She replied and closed her eyes.

He took that as acceptance enough and he closed the distance between their lips. Her feather soft lips danced with his. Her hands twined themselves in his hair and his hands rested on her waist, his thumbs soothing her skin over her dress. Their wild heartbeats caught up to each other and beat frantically together. She inched closer to him holding him tight and his hands moved to her back, running up and down.

She pressed her lips to his one more time before pulling away. Still holding each other they looked into their bright shining eyes, not saying a word. She moved her arms down and wrapped them against his waist and rested her head on his shoulder. They stayed in each others arms, not saying anything and just letting their heartbeats return to normal, if that was even possible.

_I just kissed James Potter._

_I just kissed Lily Evans._

She looked at him again but before she could open her mouth something sparkling caught her eye and she looked up.

_Mistletoe._


End file.
